First week off from the Abraxane

Saturday, July 20, 2013

It was nice having this week off from chemo, but it was a busy week for me. I wasn't sure I would have the stamina to handle it all, but I did surprisingly well, despite the fact that I have had a lot of trouble sleeping this week.

I had my appointment at the pain clinic Tuesday; I was glad for once it didn't fall on a chemo day. My doctor there is great; he takes his time talking to his patients, and he hasn't given up on trying to find the best way to help my hip pain. He tried something a little different with the injections for my left hip and left shoulder, treating the pain as a pinched nerve issue. I think they may be helping; even though I still have to take my pain pills, the pain does seem to be a little better.

Wednesday was a "stay at home" day. Thursday morning, I saw my internist for a follow up appointment on my low thyroid. Good news is that with the Synthroid, my levels are now normal, and no adjustment is needed in my dose. I know that a lot of people need several months to get the right dose figured out, so I feel lucky mine was the right one for me when I first started it in May. I think having my thyroid levels normal is helping to keep my energy levels up despite not getting enough sleep most nights this past week.

I also did a little grocery shopping after my appointment on Thursday, and later that day, my mom, my sister and I met 2 of my cousins for lunch; one of them was here from Massachusetts on her annual visit to Michigan. We had a nice long visit.

Friday started out pretty good; I felt fairly good the first part of the day, until that incident with my hip that I described in yesterday's blog. That is doing ok today though; but sometimes it feels like it wants to seize up when I am getting up out of a chair, so I have to remember to move slowly when I do that.

I am keeping up with my workouts, so far, I've only missed 2 days this month, and as of today, I've done a workout 8 days in a row.

I start another 3 weeks in a row of chemo on Tuesday. Hopefully, my lab work will show improved blood counts. So far, I still have my hair! I am very thankful for that.

You are really amazing with ALL you do and you sure have a true excuse not to do any exercising at all. You are an inspiration and I am so happy that you have family who loves you and supports you too, and good doctors who listen and care.

With my MS sometimes I get terrible nerve pain and it sure is great to find something that works. I started Cymbalta about a month ago and it had relieved the pain a LOT which I was surprised. Nothing else seemed to work before.

I am glad we are friends here and in Goodreads. Reading is a great thing to share. Good luck tomorrow with the chemo.

It's truly wonderful you have some goods to help level out the not-so-goods. You made it through a rough week, so I hope the rest of your weekend is relaxing so help ensure you have spoons ready to get you through the next 3 weeks of chemo.

Busy week! And getting all those workouts in along with everything else - great job. That's really good news about the thyroid meds, I remember how hard it was for my grandmother to get the right level, always running back to the doctor to get it checked and re-checked.